The 89-year-old they once called “Mr Cool” is likely the last person alive who may know what happened to Mackay after he was shot in the carpark of the Griffith Hotel on July 15, 1977. 

According to crime writer John Silvester, Bazley was now “very ill”. 

“He's always told his wife he didn’t do it,” Mr Silvester said. “However, this is sufficient corroboration of evidence (that Bazley did it). That a married man would accept a contract to kill a decent, honourable, family man is reprehensible.”

Bazley was found guilty of conspiracy to murder Mackay in 1986 and was reportedly paid just $10,000 to kill the anti-drugs campaigner. The body has never been found.

Ten years after the murder the contract killer denied he pulled the trigger, but he stayed silent on the matter since. Police and reporters have repeatedly visited Bazley and every time he has refused to break his silence. Even a media group’s offer of cash for a tell-all interview fell on deaf ears.

Reg Fallon, a Griffith man who was friends with Mackay through the Rotary Club, said getting the final piece of the puzzle would be important to people in Griffith.

“There'd be a good few around Griffith who'd like to know,” Mr Fallon said. “I hold Don Mackay in very high regard, he was an ordinary bloke but he was a champion.”

Now in his 90’s, Bazley has been in and out of hospital and his failing health is sure to be tempting him to spill his secrets. But whether he will before he finally meets the reaper remains to be seen.